Dec. 31st, 2020 | 11:01 pm

It seems like someone has set up automation to post in the top comment of a journal. I have gotten half a dozen spam posts, so I am creating this false top. Please do not reply to this comment. All replies are screened and notifications are turned off.

Jul. 5th, 2016 | 06:42 pm

Number of Bins: 64Number of miscellaneous bins: 2Number of colors available (not including misc. bin): 22Number of different shape parts (not including misc. bin): 41

I will mention that my results are a “snapshot” of one visit, and may not represent how the store is at other times.

While July 4th is a holiday, it is not what I would call a “shopping holiday” so the mall wasn’t too busy. Of the 8 Lego stores I have been to in the past, this one was the smallest by far. Not just the brick wall, the whole store was small. However they did a good job of maintaining what they have.

They had both the new “Pick-a-Model” (the truck) and the old (butterfly) model on display. They had two misc. bins and the current “fan favorites” bins (sand green 1x1 brick, sand green 1x2 plate, a modified plate ball joint, and a modified plate socket joint).

I was pleased to see some parts here that I had not seen at other stores (Propellers, Foliage, etc.). While we were delving in the misc. bins, one of the employees came over to find out what we were looking for, and brought out some boxes from the back for me (1x2 tan slopes, 4x6 tan plates). I do not count things in boxes as part of my brick wall score, but I do appreciate the good service.

The build-a-minifig display was well stocked. The “hair” and “hats” were actually in separate bins.

The Annapolis Lego store is the first one to get a Variety Score higher than their number of bins. The customer service was very good. If I lived in the Baltimore area I would choose it over the Arundel Mills store, in spite of it being smaller.

Jul. 5th, 2016 | 10:52 am

Number of Bins: 88Number of miscellaneous bins: 0Number of empty bins: 1Number of colors available (not including misc. bin): 22Number of different shape parts (not including misc. bin): 47

I will mention that my results are a “snapshot” of one visit, and may not represent how the store is at other times. Yes, I managed to visit two different Lego stores on the same day.

July 1st is the first day of the quarter. Unlike the Tysons Corner Store they did not have the new “Pick-a-Model” in the display spot yet. They did not have the old (butterfly) model on display either. The display spaces were empty. While technically this does not affect variety, the model display uses what once was bin space. I would rather see it used to the fullest. The parts to the “Pick-a-Model” were in place and this store does have the current “fan favorites” bins (sand green 1x1 brick, sand green 1x2 plate, a modified plate ball joint, and a modified plate socket joint).

As I was counting what was in the bins I noticed that one of the bins was empty, totally empty. This bothers me. Scoring based on variety, one of the things I don’t like to see is two different bins with identical parts, but that is built into my scoring. The store only gets points for each unique shape or color. A duplicate bin gets no points (and I did notice some duplicate bins at this store as well). An empty bin feels worse to me. It is unused potential, so I have decided that having an empty bin gives them a penalty of -5 points in my scoring method. Also while having multiple misc. bins does not give more than one +5 bonus, if a store had multiple empty bins the will get a -5 penalty for each. I will also point out that this store did not have any misc. bins.

My partner checked the build-a-minifig display, and she told me that most of those bins were low, and she could only find 3 hair pieces. Not only 3 types of hair, only 3 pieces of hair in the whole display. When she mentioned this to a store employee, he did not offer to check the back for more.

I do feel that the Potomac Mills store is doing a better job of stocking their Pick-A-Brick wall than Arundel Mills, but this is one of those cases where even a poorly managed wall can get a slightly better score because it is bigger.

Jul. 4th, 2016 | 11:19 pm

This is the second in a series of reviews of Lego store Pick-A-Brick walls.

There are currently 2 Lego stores in Virginia. The first review was the closest to my house, and the second review is next closest.

7966 Tysons Corner CenterTysons Corner Center, VA 22102

July 1st 2016, around noon

Number of Bins: 110Number of miscellaneous bins: 2Number of colors available (not including misc. bin): 26Number of different shape parts (not including misc. bin): 55

I will mention that my results are a “snapshot” of one visit, and may not represent how the store is at other times.

My first thought when entering the store was to wonder if the new “Pick-a-Model” would be up yet or not, being the first day of the quarter. It was, the new model is a truck. The old model (the butterfly) was taken down. (I did not check to see if they still had some butterfly blister packs in the drawer behind, I should have, but I forgot.)

This is one of the larger pick-a-brick walls I have seen and it was impressive. This store does have the current “fan favorites” bins (sand green 1x1 brick, sand green 1x2 plate, a modified plate ball joint, and a modified plate socket joint).

There were 2 miscellaneous bins. I have decided that while having a misc. bin adds 5 points to a store’s score, having 2 misc. bins does not increase the variety of the wall that much. Therefore whether a store has 1 or many misc. bins they only get the 5 points once.

The reason I am choosing variety as my standard for scoring points is that I don’t intend these reviews to be for my use alone. If it was just for me then I would only count the bricks that I like, but I have met other builders at the wall who were looking for very different things than me. While you can’t please all the people all the time, with variety you are best able to please most of the people most of the time.

I have re-thought my scoring system. Giving points for the number of bins gives an extra advantage to larger stores. They already have a higher potential for variety, no need to give them extra points for being big. (It would be bad for a large store with poor selection to score higher than a small store with good selection.)

I will also mention that my partner was impressed with the selection in the build-a-minifig display as well.

May. 31st, 2016 | 09:13 pm

May. 30th, 2016 | 10:11 pm

This is the first in a series of reviews of Lego store Pick-A-Brick walls.

I have been to 6 different stores at this point, but this is the first time I recorded the variety available on the Pick-A-Brick wall. Here are the Stats

2700 Potomac Mills Cir Ste 767Woodbridge VA 22192-4673

May 21st 2016

Number of Bins: 64Number of miscellaneous bins: 1Number of colors available (not including misc. bin): 19Number of different shape parts (not including misc. bin): 38

A miscellaneous bin is of course a bin with a wide assortment of parts. Many of them are the same as those currently in the other bins on the wall, but not all. There is often buried treasure in the misc. bin.

I will mention that in addition to the misc. bin, at this store there was a mixed bin which contained small wheels, tires to fit those wheels, and 2 different bearing elements (2x2 plate, 1x4 plate) for the wheels to be connected. Having all these in one bin was convenient, shows the kids which parts are meant to go together, allows the store to have more diversity of parts on the wall.

The minifig part bins also seemed good (not the best, not the worst) but it would be much harder to count the available parts there.

I have decided to give 5 points for having a misc. bin, and add that to the other numbers5 + 64 + 19 + 38 for a score of 126.

I don't have any other hard data to compare it to yet, but it seemed a good selection compared to some other stores.

Jan. 29th, 2015 | 12:38 pm

Next Month (next week actually) starts Month of Letters http://lettermo.com/. I will send out (at least) one letter for every day the post office is open (23 postal days), and I will send a reply to any personal mail I receive in the month of February.

This will be my fourth year participating. When I started the first year I was unemployed and nearly broke, but I had recently printed up some of my drawings as postcards. I figured I could afford the cost of some cardstock and stamps, and it would help fill my time.

It has also inspired me to continue drawing, each February I would try to have a half dozen new cards to send out to people. Some of them didn't get finished till mid February, but it was a creative outlet with a "soft" deadline.

This year I am more prepared than ever before. I am employed and can even afford international postage. Also since I moved to Virginia kyttn has been bringing me to "Stitch & Bitch" dinners with her friends. While the others get out their crochet, knitting, or cross-stitch; I get out my sketchpad. I have 3 new cards I made last fall, and another 5 drawings I like well enough to make into cards.

So if any of you are interested in getting a card from me you can comment below to give me your address (Comments screened for privacy)

Nov. 4th, 2014 | 01:02 pm

A month ago I went to the Local Virginia DMV and got a Virginia driver's license. There were many reasons to do this, but a significant one was that I was also there to register to vote. While I have a passport, a local drivers license also simplifies the voting process.

A week later my Drivers License showed up. Another ten days after that my my voter registry card arrived. Today I walked half a block to my poling station and cast my ballot. It was well worth the effort.